Covid-19 passport pilots proposed by UK government as a way out for closure

Covid-19 passport pilots proposed by UK government as a way out for closure

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As the country reopens, ministers hope the ‘certified status’ system will allow those vaccinated to have recently had a negative test or a positive test within six months to return to theaters, football matches, theaters and other events to stop.

Several countries view some form of Covid-19 status verification as a viable way to make it quick and easy for individuals to attend events or take flights, but critics are concerned that the passports would jeopardize fundamental freedoms and can risk discrimination.
The UK launch, which will be discussed in detail by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday, will test the effectiveness and transfer risks of the government’s reopening plan and start on April 16 at Liverpool’s Hot Water Comedy Club. Other events and venues listed for April include the World Snooker Championships at Sheffield’s Crucible Theater, the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium in London and Luna Cinema in Liverpool.

“We have made great progress over the past few months with our vaccination program and everyone in the country has made great sacrifices to bring us to this point in our recovery from covid-19,” Johnson said in a statement Saturday. “We are doing everything we can to make the reopening of our country possible so that people can return as safely as possible to the events, travel and other things they love, and these reviews will play an important role in closing it down. too late.”

The National Health Service is developing paper and digital methods for citizens to prove their Covid-19 status. The government stressed that passports are not required to travel by public transport or enter essential shops.
More than 70 MPs have joined civic freedom groups such as Big Brother Watch this week to launch a campaign against the proposed use of documents giving people access to certain local venues. Senior politicians such as the former leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, and the liberal leader, Ed Davey, were signatories to a statement saying that vaccine passports are ‘divisive and discriminatory’.

Davey described the passports in a tweet Friday as “illiberal and unworkable”.

“Clinical and ethical experts are continuing to ensure appropriate exemptions for people for whom vaccination is not recommended, and repeated testing will be difficult,” the government said in a statement on Saturday.

A tourism minister said on Sunday that the certification was “one of the tools” the government is looking at to help us return to the things we love.

“We are very aware and very aware of the ethical considerations regarding vaccination certification,” Nigel Huddleston told CNN’s subsidiary ITN. “The main purpose of looking at this option is to see how it enables us to open up, to get back to the things we want to do sooner … Many businesses tell me that the opening is one thing, but what we really need to do is to be able to open profitably and as long as social distance exists, it poses real challenges for us to be able to reopen as viable businesses. ‘

International travel from the UK is still banned until May 17, but after that date the government will implement a traffic light system. Travelers coming from ‘green’ countries do not have to isolate themselves, while those of ‘red’ or ‘amber’ will still be limited to the mandatory quarantine policies that currently apply.

The American Civil Liberties Union said this week that plans to introduce a standardized vaccine passport should be responsible for social inequalities and privacy rights and anything less is a ‘nonstarter’. Several organizations and technology companies have already begun developing smartphone applications and other digital systems to store and verify vaccination information.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order banning the use of Covid-19 passports in the state. The order prohibits any government entity from issuing passport passports and prevents businesses from requiring such documentation.

Robert Iddiols, Kelly Murray, Gregory Lemos and Alaa Elassar contributed to this report.

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